In the art of easy open carbonated beverage containers, it is common to use a one piece aluminum can having an open top which is covered by and seamed to an aluminum shell or lid, for example, as disclosed in numerous patents issued to Ermal C. Fraze and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,658. These patents disclose a top end wall or shell having a section defined by a score or tear line which is ruptured by lifting or tilting a pull tab attached to the section by an integrally formed rivet. An aluminum lid with an easy open tear section has also been used in combination with a container or can which is blow of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material to obtain the advantages of a transparent plastics container. However, due to the aluminum top end wall or lid attached to a blow molded plastics body or can, it was not practical to recycle the container, and the manufacture of the container has been discontinued.
It has been found desirable to produce a beverage container which is stackable and is constructed entirely of PET material or a compatible plastics material so that the container is recyclable. Such a container must be capable of holding substantial pressure over an extended period of time such as required to hold a carbonated beverage. It is also desirable for the all plastics container to provide for easy opening by the consumer and also for reclosing in a sealed condition so that a portion of a carbonated beverage or contents may be preserved in the container.
Various devices have been used or proposed for reclosing an aluminum beverage container with an easy open lid section deflected by a pull or tilt tab. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,205 discloses a cup-shaped vessel which snap-fits onto the top of an aluminum beverage can and is rotatable to open and close the opening within the top end wall or shell of the can. Another form of closure device of molded plastics material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,085. In this patent, a container has a top end wall molded of a plastics material, and a pivotal closure section may be reclosed after a flangeable seal has been ruptured. However, neither of these container attachments are capable of resealing and retaining substantial pressure within the container, for example, as is produced by a carbonated beverage after it is reclosed within its container. It is also known to provide rotatable closures on non-pressurized containers such as on containers for spices and other similar granular materials. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,039 discloses a metal container with a rotatable semi-circular metal cap for reclosing a pressurized beverage container having an easy open feature to provide a spill-resistant seal around the opening.